Freeze Frame
by NCIS-Ninja
Summary: What if you could stop and start time as you please? Tori Vega comes into possession of a watch that will do just that. When she and her friend Jade find out, they have to decide exactly how to use this power. Rated T for language. Shipless.
1. Opportunity Knocking on Your Door

Author's Notes: As I wrap up my other story, I'll be starting on this one. For once, I have no idea where I'm going with this. Dangerous territory, I know, but this idea was too amazing to pass up. So you guys can definitely help by suggesting stuff. By the way, nobody is dating in this one, so Jade and Beck were never together. Just a note, the crown of a watch is the knob you pull out and turn to set the time.

Chapter One

Opportunity Knocking at Your Door

Tori stared at the beautiful gold watch. It was simple, yet fit with almost any outfit flawlessly. The watch however, didn't tell time. She had spent the last twenty minutes pulling the crown out, and turning it to set the time. Each time she clicked the crown back in, she would wait a couple minutes, yet the watch would do nothing. She would have thrown it in the drawer and forgotten about it, except that this watch in particular was very special to her.

About a month ago, Tori's grandmother passed away. It was an easy departure from this world, but like most departures, it came far too soon for the Vegas. Trina took it hard, since her grandmother had been especially close to her. The biggest reason was that her grandmother was nearly deaf, so she was one of the few people that enjoyed Trina's performances. Tori was also close to her grandmother, but in a different way. She would sit and talk to the woman for hours about what life once was. Her grandmother was a dancer when she was Tori's age, so she would share stories if her hearing was doing well that particular day. Other times, they would just sit out on her grandmother's porch and watch fireflies at night. As she grew older, she began to forget things, and it was difficult for Tori to go see her. Strangely, long after her grandmother had forgotten her mother and father, she remembered Tori. She forgot who Trina was months before her death, but held on to Tori's identity.

So when Tori received this watch from her grandmother's will, she was determined to wear it everyday as a reminder of the person. Tori put the watch down on the table and sighed, holding her head in her hands and staring intently at it. This watch was very significant, so she couldn't just get rid of it. Tori made the executive decision to wear the watch anyways. Little did she know how special this watch actually was.

..::..::..::..::..::..

Tori closed her locker gingerly. She slammed it in anger yesterday and some of the lights refused to turn on this morning, so she was going to be gentle with her locker from now on. Jade and Cat were chatting idly by Jade's locker. Cat was probably telling a story about her brother, since her mouth was running like a motor. Jade was listening, but was far more interested in her nails than whatever story Cat had to tell. Tori made her way over to where they were.

Tori, Jade, and Cat. They were like the three amigos, but girls. They did everything together. If two of them did something, the other one was there too, or at least invited to. Tori and Cat were close because they didn't care how odd they were. Tori didn't mind Cat's antics, in fact she found them quite amusing and Cat never judged Tori for anything she had done or will do. Jade and Cat had been friends long before Tori came into the picture. Tori still didn't understand their friendship, but it was there. Jade and Tori were a different story. They had a crazy relationship. When Tori first got to Hollywood Arts, Tori and Jade had lots of friction. They both had a crush on the same guy, Beck Oliver. In turn, there was the inevitable friction between them. They were angry at each other a lot, and Jade picked on Tori often. Yet, they both knew that they were still friends, as strange as it may be.

That doesn't mean they weren't competitive in their attempts to swoon Beck. They had done a lot of things to get him to see them as more than just friends. Recently, their attempts have been quieted down by his relationship with some other girl. Just this morning, The Slap informed them that Beck had broken up with the girl, so the two performers would be at it again soon enough.

"Nice watch, Vega." Jade said in a snarky tone. Tori looked down at the watch; it actually fit with her outfit nicely. Why would Jade be making fun of it? "It's gotta be a good watch if it's four hours behind." Jade noted, sipping her coffee. Jade was a caffeine addict, so her coffee was never far away.

"Oh," Tori quickly realized, "It doesn't work, I just thought it looked nice." Jade raised an eyebrow and stared Tori down. Silently searching for some logic in Tori's words.

"I had a watch that didn't work once. It was pink and red. I wore it around when I was seven, and told people the wrong time, until my brother told me it wasn't a watch. It was actually a strip of bacon." Cat said in her perky tone, fading to a high, but disappointed voice by the end of the story. Tori snickered, and even Jade had to hold back her laugh. Jade turned back to Tori, "Did you change the battery?" She said.

Tori nodded. Jade knitted her brows in thought, tapping her fingernails against the coffee cup pensively. Cat too was examining the watch with piqued interest.

"I've tried pulling the knob on the side out and turning it, but nothing happens." Tori said. Jade put down her coffee, and took Tori's wrist. Jade pulled Tori's arm closer and looked at the watch closely. "Here. I'll try." Jade stated, before pulling out the crown until it clicked.

Suddenly, the halls were quiet. They hadn't been loud previously, but there was always the buzz of people talking. Tori reckoned that a big group of people must have left to get to their classes.

"It's turning fine." Jade said, spinning the knob around and making the hands on the face of the watch whir around in circles. "Maybe it's just jacked up. Like Cat's bacon." Jade said. Tori smiled in response to the joke. Jade furrowed her brow. She had expected a giggle from Cat. She looked up to see Cat standing there, looking down at the wristwatch, but not moving. "You alright, Cat?" Tori asked.

No response. Cat was almost… frozen in place. The two singers looked up to see a hallway full of frozen people, even the clocks weren't ticking. The first thought was that this was some elaborate prank, but that was quickly dispelled when they saw a boy stopped in mid air. Jade and Tori were speechless as they looked around. The only "logical" explanation was that time had stopped.

Jade fumbled with the watch, clicking the crown back in. As soon as it did, the world resumed normality and the sounds of people talking and walking filled the air once again. Jade pulled the crown of the watch back out, and everyone became still, and that hushed silence fell over the school.

"Holy shit." Jade said, followed by an "Oh my god." From Tori. The two girls stared at each other incredulously.

"Your jacked up watch can stop time…" Jade said, not believing the words herself. Tori shook her head, "This has got to be a dream." Tori thought that explanation sounded far more reasonable. Some how, this didn't feel like a dream at all.

"Vega… I don't think this is a dream." Jade said. Tori blinked a couple times and pinched herself to check. If it's a dream, it's the most vivid one she's ever had.

"Okay. Say this isn't a dream… then why are you and I the only ones that can move?" Tori reasoned. She realized that it could have been happening last night when she was messing with the watch, since nobody else was around for her to see.

"Maybe it's because I'm touching you." Jade suggested, letting her hands fall away. "Try it again, without me touching you."

Tori nodded in agreement. She pressed the crown back in, and time was moving once again. Jade was looking at Tori expectantly. "One time-" Cat said, before Tori yanked the knob out until it stopped. Cat stopped speaking, her mouth open mid sentence, along with everything else. Tori looked at Jade to see her eyes looking at Tori questioningly.

"Jade?" Tori asked. No answer. Tori poked Jade's nose, but there was no response. Tori was absolutely stunned by what was happening. She hurried pressed the crown back in, and took Jade's hand, putting it on her wrist with the watch. "my brother-" Cat was cut off once more by Tori stopping time.

"I guess it worked?" Jade was trying to act calm, but Tori could see that she was almost as excited as she was about this revelation. Tori nodded quickly. "We should tell Cat, and Beck, and André…" Tori listed. Jade shook her head adamantly.

"We shouldn't tell anyone. They'll think we're crazy." Jade stated coldly. Tori was far too revved up to think reasonably like Jade. "We can just show them!" Tori proclaimed.

"Tori." Jade hissed, putting her hands on the hyperactive girl's shoulders. Uh-oh, first name, that was never a good sign. Tori calmed down, settling herself under Jade's touch. "We should just keep this as our secret. I can think of some crazy stuff we could do with this, but you can't tell anyone, alright?"

Tori thought it over. Jade's offer was tempting. If nobody knew, she could bend the rules of everything. She could do so many cool things. Get her homework done in record time (no time at all), sleep in and never be late for school, she could take a moment to think anything over as much as she wanted. Tori decided that it was the best course of action.

"Alright." Tori agreed.

"Good, now let's have some fun, Vega." Jade smirked, ideas forming her creatively evil mind.

..::..::..::..::..::..

Author's Notes: So, review. Tell me what you think. I haven't decided anything yet, but I love this idea.


	2. Devil Whispers in Your Ear

Author's Notes: I hope you enjoy this chapter. I spent an hour debating about the theoretical possibilities of "freezing" time with my friend from the physics department. They don't get much air or light in the physics department… or human interaction…

Chapter Two

Devil Whispers in Your Ear

"Jefferson was a Federalist, right?" Tori whispered to Robbie. The History test was mere seconds away from being administered and Tori was a complete wreck. American History was her lowest grade and she knew that this test could drop her grade to a D if she didn't get an A.

"No, he was an Anti-Federalist. Hamilton was a Federalist." Robbie informed her. Tori knew she was screwed. Robbie sat back down in his chair and took the test from the teacher's hand. The teacher circled around and handed Jade, who was sitting behind her, a test, then placed a test on Tori's desk. He began instructing the students to put their name on the test and turn it over when they were finished, but Tori was already staring at the first questions.

1. What did Hamilton propose in the _Report on Credit_?

How was she supposed to know? Report on Credit sounds like something you wouldn't want to show up on your statement at the end of the month. Time was ticking away, and Tori knew there were forty-nine more questions and only thirty minutes. She went to work on the quiz.

She glanced up at the clock later and saw that there was a mere five minutes remaining in the class period, and she had a good ten questions left. Tori's mind became flustered and her frustration grew as she haphazardly read through question and answer choices.

"I need more time." Tori mumbled under her breath.

"You can have all the time you want." A voice from behind her whispered softly. She knew who it was. It was Jade. She knew what Jade meant too. She meant using the watch to give Tori a few more minutes to finish the test. Tori was about to do so when a thought entered her mind. Wouldn't that be cheating? She heard Jade flip over her test and knew that Jade was watching Tori's back intently to see if she would reach for the watch. Tori suddenly felt guilty, and went back to her test without ever touching the watch.

..::..::..::..::..::..

"How do you think you did on the History test?" André asked, "I'm feeling good about it myself." Tori picked at the salad in front of her, but didn't feel like eating. She knew she wasn't getting an A on that test. The sounds of people chatting filled the Asphalt Café and the smell of cheap food overwhelmed the air.

"I'm pretty sure I aced it." Robbie gloated proudly.

"That's surprising." Jade's usual sarcastic comment was always to be expected, "I just wish I could have had more **time**." Jade glanced at Tori. Tori returned Jade's look with an eye roll. Jade shrugged accordingly and went back to eating the burrito she had. Tori was starting to regret her stubbornness now. What would a couple minutes extra have been anyways? It was only a few questions, and it's not like it really would have made that much of a difference overall.

Part way through the story Cat was telling, Beck sat down at the table. For a guy that broke up with his girlfriend a few days okay, he looked okay.

"So I heard you broke up with Melissa?" André said before Cat could resume her pointless tale.

"Yeah, I had to. Kinda burned out. I actually have my eye on another girl." He said before taking a bite of his pizza. André made some comment about a tiger to Beck, but Tori missed it. All she cared about was what Beck had said. It obviously caught Jade's attention too because she had looked up too.

"Who's this other girl?" Robbie asked.

"I'm not gonna tell. I'll just say that I'm looking at someone I've known for a while." Beck replied.

Both Tori and Jade almost had a heart attack, but neither one said anything.

..::..::..::..::..::..

Tori sat on Cat's bed staring up at the pink ceiling. The room was overflowing with pinks and oranges with dabs of red. It was the quintessential 'girl room' for toddlers. Cat was laying across the end of the bed excitedly explaining one of her more outrageous ideas for the project to Tori and Jade. Jade was sitting in the white IKEA chair that was next to Cat's desk. Jade was about as interested in the space bunny idea as Tori was.

"So like they could have jet packs and go around in space and save people with laser guns like 'pew pew pew'!" Cat mimicked a laser firing sound and giggled. Jade rolled her eyes and put down the notebook she had been writing in. So far all they had down was "Ideas" at the top of the page.

"I think we need another idea." Jade groaned, running a hand through her black hair and shutting her eyes to think. "Vega." Tori looked away from the ceiling that was fascinating her and looked at Jade. Jade didn't even bother opening her eyes when she spoke, "Do you have any idea?"

Tori wrinkled her nose pensively and brainstormed. Unfortunately the storm was short-lived. Tori usually had an impressive amount of creativity, but she was still worried about the History test from earlier that day that she was too drained to think about Sikowitz's absurd assignment.

"Well, let's look over the requirements again." Tori sighed and pulled the assignment sheet out of her bag. "It has to be a skit. Running ten to fifteen minutes. Blah, blah, blah…" Tori listless named as she skimmed the sheet of paper, "Okay, here: It must have three characters, one should be a historical figure, one should be a fictional character, and one should be a celebrity. They skit must try to portray one of the themes listed below and can not involve live animals." Tori frowned as she read the last part. Both of the girls looked up at Tori with a confused look on their face, but Tori shrugged and handed Cat the paper.

"We could do a drama. About two girls that can control time." Jade opened her eyes and looked directly at Tori, making her reference extremely obvious.

"Great idea, but we need three characters." Tori retorted with fake sincerity.

"The third one is a historical person they meet when they go back in time." Jade countered. Tori was about to reject the idea, but it was actually a decent plan. Seeing as they had all of zero other ideas to consider, it sounded like a good plan. "And one of the girls could be a goody-two-shoes that won't want to use the power of time travel."

That was the last straw. Tori jumped off the bed and grabbed Jade's arm with her watch wearing hand and pulled out the crown of her watch with the other hand. Cat became motionless as she studied the sheet of paper. Jade raised her eyebrows and looked up at Tori in a self-confident manner. "Something wrong, Vega?" She asked with faux politeness.

"What's your problem?" Tori asked, dropping her hand from Jade's arm and placing it on her hip, "Ever since History you've been making fun of me because of that."

"Why didn't use the watch?" Jade ignored Tori's question.

"Because that would be cheating." Tori stated. Jade looked up at Tori and made a face that was somewhere between disgust and confusion on the emotions meter.

"That's it? Seriously? You have a damn easy button on your wrist and you won't use it. You could do whatever the hell you want and you won't because it's **wrong**?" Jade scoffed, folding her arms together. Tori sighed and shifted to her other foot.

"Well, I mean… I would do something if I wanted to." Tori muttered. She didn't like the accusation of being a goody-two-shoes. She likes to think that she's a good person, but she's certainly not a goody-two-shoes.

"Prove it." Jade challenged, obviously not believing Tori. Tori glared down at the sly girl that was sitting on Cat's cheap desk chair. She hated to accusation in Jade's eyes. It made her feel like Jade underestimated her. Maybe Jade was right, maybe she should be able to do what she wanted with the watch. Tori put a cocky smile on her face.

"Fine. I will prove it. Tomorrow." Tori said with an air of confidence. A smirk grew on Jade's face.

"I look forward to it." Jade said.

"Let's uh… do the project first though."


	3. Let's Be Frenemies

Author's Notes: There probably won't be any Jori in this story. Hey, that rhymes.

Also, please excuse my insane spelling and grammatical errors. It's two in the morning and I just ran out of caffeine, so my brain has essentially shut down for the night. Sorry.

Chapter Two

Let's be Frenemies

Tori kept her promise. She had a couple ideas, but like most of her best ones, this one came in an instant to her.

She was in gym class with Beck, Cat, and Jade. The four of them were playing tennis like the teacher had told them. Teams of two were on each side, relaying the ball between them. Other groups of people were on the other tennis courts, but Tori didn't pay any attention to them. Her eyes were on Jade, who had quickly volunteered to be on Beck's team instead of Tori or Cat's. As soon as she saw that Jade was getting into it and throwing some power behind her swings, an idea germinated within Tori's mind. Beck hit the ball with his racket and before Cat had time to make the inevitable miss, Tori had stopped that time.

Tori took a moment to marvel the motionless world. There was absolute silence, which was a bit creepy. She never realized how rarely there is true silence in her life. Even when she was home alone, there would be some white noise in the background. Now that the wind wasn't blowing and the world wasn't moving, there wasn't a single sound but her own breathing. The awkwardness started to creep in on her, so she went to work. Tori adjusted Cat's racket so that she would not only hit the ball square on, but also send it straight over to Jade. Tori walked around the net separating the two play zones and stopped in front of Jade. She pushed Jade's arm down so there was no way of hitting the ball, but Tori didn't stop there. She squatted down and untied Jade's shoes. Jade's black sneakers were muddy and worn from all the times she was forced to wear them for gym class and as a result, Tori avoided touching the bottom. Tori tied the strings of the opposite shoes together, essentially tying the two shoes together.

Tori smirked deviously as she went back to her spot pre-freeze. For a moment, Tori regretted her actions, but quickly convinced herself that she was simply fulfilling a challenge she had been issued. Tori clicked the crown back in place and the world filled with noise again. Cat hit the ball square on and it rocketed towards Jade. Jade realized her racket was too low to hit the ball, so she stepped forward and pulled her arm up, and fell flat on her face. The ball fell and bounced off behind Jade. Tori put on her best sympathetic face and ran over to where Jade was. She glanced over at the goth's feet and was relieved to find the slight knots had been pulled loose and it looked like Jade's shoes had become untied.

"Jade, are you alright?" Tori asked, trying to keep sarcasm out of her voice.

"Damn it, of course not, Vega. I fell on my face, it doesn't feel like rainbows." Jade's venomous reply stuck Tori like a needle. It didn't hurt too badly, and went away quickly, but was sharp and acute enough to warrant a wince from the brown haired girl.

"What happened?" Beck asked as he extended his hand out to Jade so he could help her get up. Jade accepted the offer happily and was lifted to her feet by Beck. Jade looked down, examining her feet. Jade grumbled something about how it had to be Tori's fault, but Beck discounted the theory since Tori had been on the other side of the net. If only he knew. Jade knew she had double tied her sneakers, so her immediate suspicion was foul-play.

"How did you do that, Vega?" She seethed. Tori put on her most innocent look possible and prepared an excuse, but she was cut off by Jade's sudden realization of exactly what Tori had done. "Never mind, let's go back to playing." Jade shooed Beck and Cat away. Tori turned to leave, but Jade grabbed her wrist and pulled Tori into an uncomfortable proximity. "Fine, I believe you, Vega, but if you try a stunt like that again, I'll make sure you won't walk again. Understand?"

Tori swallowed thickly and nodded.

..::..::..::..::..::..

"So we're meeting at Jade's house?" Cat asked in her usual light and airy voice. Jade nodded silently and continued to fiddle with her newest pair of scissors. Jade broke scissors a lot, and sometimes she used them so much that the blades became dull, so getting a new pair of scissors wasn't uncommon for her.

"We really need to finish this project." Tori groaned as the three "friends" walked down the hallway from their last class towards the lockers.

"You have a lot of things left unfinished. Like shoelaces." Jade noted, glaring up from her scissors at Tori. "Hey, Cat, why don't you go talk to Robbie?" Cat looked at Jade for a moment, but obviously didn't understand or didn't care because she gave her usual 'kaykay' and left to go see the ventriloquist.

"What's your issue now, Jade?" Tori leaned against the locker next to Jade's as she clicked her combination into the lock.

"No issue, I just want you to be completely conscience free for what I have in mind next." Jade smiled in a devilish way, and opened her locker. Jade stuffed some books in the already squished locker, and crammed a few different ones in her bag.

"Uh, okay. I think I can handle it." Tori didn't feel bad about what she had done earlier. She convinced herself that Jade was fine with it, and this conversation furthered that opinion. Jade's devilish grin remained on her face as she closed the locker and leaned against it to continue the conversation with Tori.

"Good. We're skipping school tomorrow. I'll pick you up at your place around eight." Jade listed, "Unless you're too _good_ for that." Jade knew exactly how to push Tori's buttons, and Tori was instantly angered by the comment.

"Okay, well, then how do I explain it to my parents?" Tori asked.

"You're smart. Think of something." Jade said before she turned to walk off.

Tori groaned again and slumped against the lockers.

"You okay?" Beck asked. Tori instantly perked up at the sound of Beck's voice. She pulled herself away from the lockers and fixed some misplaced hair.

"Yeah, fine. What's up?" She asked. She was really really **really** hoping that Beck was going to ask her out. It was a far fetched dream honestly, but she was always a dreamer. She just hoped that it wasn't Jade he was after now.

"So has anyone asked you to the dance yet?" His question made Tori's heart jump and skip and spin. She caught her breath and answered with an ethusiatic 'no'.

"Ah." He replied, sipping at whatever beverage he had from the café. Ah? That was it? Seriously. Tori cautiously asked for more information.

"Are you going with anyone?" She hoped that the question didn't come off as too apparent. She was going for subtle, although subtle doesn't always seem to be Tori's strong point. Beck took another drink of his beverage and ran a hand through his hair.

"I've got my eye on someone." He winked and walked away. Tori's heart was beating like a wild drum. He winked at her. _**He**____**winked**____**at**____**her.**_That could only be some sort of come-on, right? For once, Tori wasn't worried about over thinking things. She wanted him to ask pretty badly.


	4. Wanted

Author's Notes: I hate this chapter so much.

Chapter Three

Wanted

"Vega!" Jade grunted as she knocked her shoulder into Tori's. "Quit moping and let's go." Jade stood up and pulled Tori to her feet off of the bench in front of the shopping mall. The bench was next to some automatic doors that were sliding open and shut as people entered and exited the mall. Tori shook her head and looked straight down at her feet to avoid meeting Jade's look of impatience.

"Jade, this is wrong. I mean-" Tori started, but her words were lost by Jade's loud groan. They weren't seeing eye-to-eye on anything. Jade wanted to use the watch to do whatever she wished, but Tori wanted to leave it be. She had just stolen a CD from a store, but Jade convinced her that it wasn't stealing since the event never happened in time. Technically, Jade was correct, but Tori felt her conscience heavy in her chest like a brick in the bottom of her lungs. She wondered if Jade felt a conscience anywhere in her at all or if she was really just a heartless bitch.

"Stop being such a wimp. Let's go." Jade complain as she took Tori's wrist and tried to tug her along. Tori dug her heels in and resisted the maneuver. Jade sighed once again and let Tori's hand go. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Tori winced at the anger in Jade's voice. When Jade was pissed off, Tori had this strong urge to revert back to keeping a nightlight in her room and use monster-spray on her window.

"Jade, I have a really bad feeling about this whole thing. We shouldn't be messing with time." Tori squeaked, trying not to look into Jade's narrowed blue-green eyes. If she doesn't make eye-contact, maybe Jade won't turn her into stone.

"Why not? Is the time fairy gonna come get us? Grow up, Vega, if you want to get by in this world, you have to learn to use whatever life throws at you, and this-" Jade yanked Tori's wrist up to display the watch, "This is what you've got. Make use of it." Jade threw Tori's arm back down to her side. Tori was frozen in place out of fear, taking cautious breaths in case Jade lashes out at her. Jade turned around and ran a hand threw her hair. When she turned back around, the anger was gone, and replaced by a reflective feeling.

"How do you know what the world is like? You're the same age as me." Tori said quietly, almost hoping Jade wouldn't hear her retort. Jade looked back at Tori and gritted her teeth before answering, "Because I've learned my lesson early. This world isn't a great place."

Jade looked off to the side thoughtfully, which only fueled Tori's confusion and curiosity. Tori spoke even softer than before, "The world hasn't been good to you?" Tori took a cautionary step back, still afraid that Jade will start swinging. Jade did no such thing, she merely crossed her arms and bit her lip.

"It's none of your business what my life is like." She answered solemnly. Tori felt a cold negative space fill the gap between them like dead air. Jade was so thickly incased in protective barriers that there was no chance of getting her to tell anyone anything.

"But it is my business. I'm your friend, so I should help you." Tori pleaded, taking that step back towards Jade. Jade scoffed and brought her gaze back on to Tori.

"I don't need help. Let's go." She swung her bag over her shoulder and turned curtly on her heel, but Tori lurched forward and grabbed Jade's shoulder. Jade stopped and spun back around. She slammed Tori back against the wall, pinning Tori's shoulder to the brick of the wall with her elbow.

"Listen." Jade seethed, "I have my life, and you have yours. It's not your fucking place to get involved in my life, and I am very capable of taking care of my own damn problems." She glared into Tori's eyes that were only a few inches away from her own. She furrowed her brow, and Tori was sure she deciding on which way to kill her. Jade suddenly let Tori go, retracting all contact in one swift movement. Tori took a deep breath, but kept her eyes fixed on the pale girl. "You're lucky I-"

Jade was pushed over by a man in a long coat who was hurrying past on the side walk, heading for the walkway to get over the street to the mall's parking lot. "I'm so sorry, Jen. I just wanted to get this new album, and I looked all over the store. Yeah, I-Yeah, I'll be right there, I just- No. No, Jen, I'm sorry." He rambled into his phone as he stepped out on to the pass, not paying attention to the road. Tori saw a car rocketing down the road towards the guy, and immediately realized the gravity of the situation. She yelled out to the guy, but he was too busy talking on his phone and walked right in front of the car. Tori reached down to her watch, but it was too late. The car hit him, and continued zooming down the road.

Tori jolted away from the wall towards him, ignoring Jade. She ran over to where he was laying. He was twitching, gasping, and bleeding in a contorted position on the road. He looked up at Tori and tried desperately to say something, but only coughed up more blood.

"Oh my god. Oh my god." Tori stammered as she reached for her phone. She shakily dialed nine-one-one, but it was a futile attempt. He croaked out a final breath and slipped away into a near-death state. The operator picked up and started speaking, but Tori was unable to form words. She saw that his T-shirt displayed a band. It was the same band that made the album Tori had taken from the store. She vaguely remembered it being the last one on the shelf. With a sickening thought, she knew what she had done. She had killed him. She dropped her phone to the ground and put her head in her hands, sobbing and shaking.

"Tori." Jade said, putting her hands on Tori's shoulders. "Tori." She repeated, helping the shaking girl up. Jade put and arm around Tori and tried to say something comforting, but Tori was lost in tears. Jade led her up to the curb, and started walking her away.

How they got to Jade's house Tori was fuzzy on, but she knew that she was curled up into a ball on Jade's bed, crying on to Jade's purple comforter. Jade was pacing back and forth, running her hand along the deep blue walls and cursing to herself. She eventually sat down next to Tori and tried for the third time to get through to her.

"Tori, come on, it's all okay. It's all fine." She knew her words were lies, but isn't that how you're supposed to comfort people? She really didn't know how to do this. Tori sat up after a few minutes, still sniffling and sobbing. She looked over at Jade. Jade smiled. It was a horrible idea, but she had no clue what to do in this situation. She only knew that her "friend" was having a total break-down. Suddenly, Tori fell into Jade, and put her head on Jade's chest, wetting a spot with her tears as she burst in to tears again. Jade was shocked, and wasn't really sure what to do, she sat motionless for a moment before awkwardly putting her arms around Tori.

"I killed him." Tori cried into Jade's shirt. Jade was really confused now. Tori killed that guy? How? "I took the CD and it killed him" Tori sobbed. Jade let the pieces click together. Tori had taken that CD, and the guy was talking about how he was late because he was looking for a CD. Tori's album was by the band that guy had a shirt off. The pieces formed a gruesome picture.

If she hadn't taken the album, he wouldn't have died.

"Oh, god, Jade. What do I do?" Tori sputtered again, "I'm a killer, Jade."

"No, Tori. No you aren't." She whispered, still trying to make sense of the event. Tori turned her head out from Jade's chest.

"If I wouldn't have taken that album, he'd still be alive." Tori said through her tears. Jade shook her head.

"There's no way you could have known that. It's not your fault." Jade comforted. It's my fault, she thought. She pressured Tori in to taking that… so maybe she was the killer.

"I guess… I guess you're right." Tori sniffled. Jade nodded, and picked up the remote. Maybe TV would cure the shock. It clicked on to the news, but before Jade could switch the channel, she saw a picture of her and Tori appear on the screen. It was from the store they were at a few hours ago.

"Only a few hours ago, a series of deaths occurred. One man was hit by a car, a woman was killed in a crash, and another man was killed trying to leave the store when an assailant entered the store with a gun. The only thing these three have in common is these two girls that were seen in the same areas minutes before the deaths, and disappeared soon after. If anyone has seen these two, please call-" Jade shut the TV off. Tori was crying again, and the graveness of their predicament settled in. Wherever they used the watch, people died. She pulled Tori closer and put her head down on the other girl's. Because of her, three people were dead. One guy dying hadn't made that much of an impact, but three people turned Jade into a weeping mess.


	5. Running Out of Time

Author's Notes: Don't hate me for my sporadic updating. It can't be helped.

Chapter Five

Running out of Time?

Jade groaned as she woke up to a throbbing pain in her head. It was dark in the room, and she could feel someone holding her head against their chest. She smelled Tori's scent, but mixed with some sweat… and blood. At the smell, Jade's eyes opened fully and she realized that she wasn't in a room, but in a truck, or the back of one, and it was completely closed up, because the only light in the room was coming from underneath the doors that inevitably led to road sliding past underneath them. She felt cloth being held to her head, probably to stop the bleeding, and she realized it must be Tori who was holding her head.

"Vega?" Jade groaned, her head throbbing with every word she spook, "Why the hell are you holding my head?" Jade struggled to move her hands, but felt the handcuffs clang against the metal of the walls.

"Because you were close to wall and I thought maybe you had a concussion, so I didn't want you to hit the wall when we hit a bump." Tori explained. Wait, why the hell were they in a truck, why did she have a concussion, and why did Jade have cuffs on, but not Tori?

"Let go of me." Jade growled as she pulled herself out of Tori's grasp. She managed to pull out, but didn't realized how close the wall was behind her, and hit the sore spot of her head against the wall. Jade couldn't muffle the cry that escaped her lungs as she slammed her bleeding head into the wall. She bit down on her lip so hard she almost broke the skin. She clenched her eyes shut and sucked in air through her teeth as the pain shot through her skull, beating against her brain like it was a drum. "Fuck…" She hissed.

"Jade! Are you okay?" Tori asked, so genuinely concerned that it made Jade's stomach churn. Tori crawled towards Jade in the dark and put her hand behind Jade's head, pulling it back to her chest, and sitting back down.

Jade didn't stop Tori this time, in fact she was secretly glad Tori had pulled her head away from the vibrating wall that thrummed and clattered as they drove down the road, or street, or highway, or wherever they were. She did however, have to get an answer, "How did we end up in this mess, Vega?" Jade groaned through her teeth.

"You researched the murders and somehow convinced me there was no way that we could be responsible for the first two, and then the police showed up." Tori recollected, "And I put my hands up in the air and you said 'Tori, don't do that!' and pretty much drop kicked one of the officers and went for the windows."

Jade couldn't help but chuckle, "Sounds like me. So then how did I end up here?"

Tori smiled uneasily, still surprised Jade had let her hold her this long without raising a fuss. She must actually be hurting, which was saying a lot, since she didn't shed a tear when she broke her ankle. "Well, you tripped over a cord, and uh started fighting the officer when he tried to cuff you, so he hit you over the head with a lamp."

Jade nodded, but then realized something. "Tori, why did he use his nightstick instead of the lamp?"

"He didn't have one. They were in suits, all FBIed up." She recounted. She felt Jade shifted until she was looking straight up at Tori.

"We have feds locking us in the back of a truck. Why the hell didn't you use the watch?" Jade seethed. Tori felt a pang of pain stab into her heart. She hadn't wanted to ever use the watch again. She had already killed one guy, and possibly more, and that wasn't worth it. Plus, that was probably all these guys wanted, so if she just handed it over hopefully things would be fine. Tori looked away from Jade, "I just didn't want to. It was too much of a risk."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Vega, listen to me." Tori remained unwavering in her intensive stare into the darkness, "Vega." Jade repeated. Tori shook her head, and Jade reached up at quite an odd angle and took Tori's chin. She all but wrenched her head until they were staring eye to eye.

"Tori." Jade said her first name like it was gold she was just forced to pay to keep her house or something. Jade glared up at Tori until she felt the brunette nod slowly. "When they open up that door, you're going to use that watch, and we're getting out of here." Jade commanded.

"Jade, Jade. I trust you, but-but, I just can't." Tori nearly cried, "Somebody's going to get hurt."

"I already got hurt. My head is bleeding if you didn't notice, and if this continues, then I might die. We don't know what they want from us. If they're some secret government agency, they might kill us before we leave." Jade's eyes sparked with a serious intensity that made Tori very frightened about their situation all of a sudden.

"Jade. They were nice to me; they gave me a bottle of water. And why do you think I would care about you, when you hate me?" Tori frowned, her gaze wavering under Jade's intense stare.

"You don't really feel that way, right? Tell me you don't care about me with a straight face." Jade challenged.

"I do care about you, Jade. You're my friend, and you're Cat's closest friend, so I shouldn't have a problem with you. But obviously you have a problem with me." She state, pulling out of Jade's grip. Jade let her handcuffed hands fall to her stomach and she smiled ever so faintly. The truck came to a lurching stop and Tori slammed into the back of the wall, luckily she shielded Jade's head from hitting the wall too, so Jade only left a dash of blood on Tori's shirt.

"Listen, Vega. Tori. It's complicated, okay? We're friends, okay? And… honestly, I like having you around. So, just trust me on this one. Use the watch when they open that door." Jade pleaded, desperation thick in her voice.

"Jade, what if-" And at that moment the doors were opened.

..::..::..::..::..::..

Author's Notes: Now you have permission to hate me. Just do it via reviewing.


	6. Why Can't We Be Friends

Author's Notes: I'm sorry in advanced for any angst I cause you. Oh wait, no I'm not. I love angst.

Chapter Six

Why Can't We Be Friends?

There was so much light flooding in to the truck that Tori couldn't see anything, but use could feel Jade breathing against her. And she heard Jade say "Please." Tori forced herself to think about exactly what she was about to do, and couldn't bring herself to use the watch, because people had died when she used it before. Tori also couldn't fathom Jade getting hurt, so when the two guys in suits blobbed into her vision and reached for Jade, Tori impulsively pulled the trigger and froze time.

For a long time, she didn't move or even think, until she became aware if Jade's breathing, and felt the black haired girl stand up and wobble a bit.

"Jade?" Tori whispered, suddenly doubting everything she had just done. Jade turned and acknowledged Tori, giving her a thankful look and then digging through the suits' pockets. How typical Jade. Tori brought herself to her knees carefully, feeling the odd strain of using her legs for the first time in a long while. She made her way over to Jade and put her hand on Jade's shoulder to get her attention, but Jade simply shrugged her off, muttering something under her breath.

"Fake." Jade declared, tossing the feds' IDs over her shoulder carelessly to Tori. Tori held them close to the light and realized that the badges were indeed plastic, but from far away looked very real. She dropped them to the floor and tried to get Jade's attention once again.

"Jade, we need to get you to the hospital. That could be bad." Tori said with concern, reaching up to Jade's head only to have the girl step away from her, shooting an I-can-handle-myself look to Tori.

"I'm fine." She flat out lied, "Doctors are for wimps and Canadians." Jade walked over the opening of the truck and hopped out. She landed on the cement floor of a big abandoned warehouse full of boxes, crates, and a mish-mash of items scattered about. Tori soon followed after Jade, desperate for Jade to listen to her. Jade was stubborn, hard-headed, and took pain on the shoulder like it was her job. She complained a lot, but never about pain. In fact, Tori thinks Jade might actually enjoy it. More the pain of others than herself, but in some sick and twisted way, Jade likes it. As Tori took in the disgusting conditions of the warehouse, Jade made her way deeper in towards the back of the warehouse.

"Jade!" Tori yelled, stomping after her as she headed into the warehouse. Tori grabbed Jade's shoulder and forced her around. Jade glared at Tori, just begging her to say something so she had a reason to hurt her. But Tori didn't care at the moment and was set on giving Jade a piece of her mind.

"Listen, Jade. I just froze time for you, because I would care if you got hurt. You're my friend, Jade and I think the least you can do for me is go to the Emergency Room with me. The only reason we're in deep chiz right now is because we've following your lead this whole time and we should start going with what I say." Tori's voice began wavering at the end because Jade hadn't shown a single emotion except 'pissed' the whole time. Jade just continued to glare for a moment before answering.

"Okay, Vega. We'll go to the damn hospital, but then I want to know what's going on here. I don't want to end up like the Canadians." Jade grumbled, crossing her arms and following Tori to the door that they think lead to the outside the world.

"Beck is Canadian, you know." Tori commented, but Jade didn't have a second to answer because she stopped dead, staring at something off to the side.

"Jade! Click the thing!" It was Tori's voice, but coming from another Tori standing with another Jade off to the side of the real Tori and Jade. She glanced up and locked eyes with herself, and for a sickening moment, she saw herself raise an eyebrow and smirk at her like she knew something. Jade's mind was processing a million times faster than usual, just like her heartbeat. She saw that her head was bandaged and she was leaning with her arm around Tori who was yelling at her. And in that same second, they were gone. Everything fell silent, and Jade didn't know what to do. Time had been stopped correct? So how was that even possible? How was any of this nightmare even possible?

"Did you just see ... Us?" Tori asked slowly, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. They looked uncanny in likeness, so the only way that it could make sense was if it was them. She had heard her own voice whenever she wasn't speaking, which scared her half to death, and when she looked up to follow Jade's shocked stare, she met eyes with herself, before that brief second was over, and she was gone. They were gone… who was gone? Jade nodded in agreement.

"Come on, let's go before things get weirder." Jade suggested, walking carefully towards the exit. She walked over a bunch of useless crap on the floor, glancing down only occasionally to check her step. The pain throbbing in her head was making it difficult to judge exactly where the floor is. One time on the way to the door, she glanced down and saw something glinting in the light. "Hey, Vega. Check this out." Jade called, reaching down for the little silver circle on the ground. Tori jogged up to where Jade was and held out her hand, to which Jade dumped a watch battery in. "Maybe you can fix that damn watch now." She chuckled before pushing past Tori to get to the door. She heard Tori say something from behind her, but continued on regardless, pushing open the door to the outside world.

She threw the barely hinged door open with a clang as it hit the side of the warehouse. She looked out on to probably the worst neighborhood in LA. She'd been here before, but it wasn't a great area. Good thing everyone is frozen or else it might have been a problem. There were tens of people swarming the LA streets, completely motionless. Jade halted where she was at the mere sight of it. Unfortunately, Tori was too busy trying to tell Jade something to stop and slammed into Jade's back, sending them both in the road. Jade groaned as her head cracked off the pavement, rolling over so she could hold the wound.

Tori scrambled to her feet. She quickly fell back down because she was rushing, and decided instead to crawl over to where Jade was laying, cursing to herself, "Jade, I'm so sorry." Tori apologized, "Can I look at it?"

"I don't want you touching me, Tori." First name again, this time she was really pissed. She rolled again so her nose was touching the ground, choking back any sign of pain and squirming to her hands and knees before pulling herself to a standing position. Without checking to see if Tori was okay, she kept walking towards the bus stop with a map of LA on it. She stepped up from the road to the sidewalk and came up to the bus stop, checking the map on the side of the partially enclosed bench.

"Jade, listen to me." Tori pleaded from behind her. Jade sighed and turned around, more with tiredness than anger this time. She was getting close to the end of her rope, and she knew exactly where they were, and that the hospital was miles away. The situation was absolutely hopeless, and Jade was through with hopeless situations.

"Look, Vega. If you're going to bitch to me about how sorry you are, you can save it. I'm done with people giving false promises to me, so I'm going to the hospital now. I might die on the way there, but I'm thinking I might like that." Jade turned swiftly and started walking away, stumbling a few times before catching stride and weaving through the mass of unmoving people. She kept walking even though the pain was becoming worse. It should have dulled by now. All pain dulls into a throbbing soon enough, and this one wasn't. She was hit over the head with a lamp, it shouldn't be this bad.

As she made her way deeper into the crowd of stagnant people, she found herself getting lost in the people. She knew exactly where she was going. She knew most parts of LA extremely well since she never spent time in her house. No, she was looking at the people. They were all so busy. They were talking on the cell phones or chatting with the person next to them. They were so oblivious to the fact that time was no longer part of her own life. Time. That made her think of Tori, who she could care less about since she had only served to piss her off since she got the watch. Jade thought it was a blessing, and it might have been if she had gotten it instead of Tori, but Jade knew now that this whole thing had been a curse. She stopped mid-thought in the middle of a busy crosswalk. The thought occurred to her that Tori hadn't started time back up again, so even if she made it to the hospital, she might not be able to get time to restart in time.

Jade finished crossing the crosswalk and stood at the corner of the two sidewalks leaning against the side of a building. She didn't care anymore. She sighed and slid down the wall on her back, finally sitting on the ground.

"Hey, West." Tori said from above her, mocking Jade's use of her last name, "Let's get to the hospital and figure this mess out." Tori put her hands on her hips and stood in a contempt fashion above Jade.

"I hate you so much, Vega." Jade said with smile, but she stood up, dusted herself off and started walking with Tori towards the hospital, the pain still throbbing away.


	7. Not so Goody Two Shoes

Chapter Seven

Not so Goody Two Shoes

"Katy Perry."

"Vega, I should slap you. Joan Jett is so much better."

"Joan Jett? She's so old school."

"Katy Perry makes me want to lock myself in a freezer."

"What is it with you and pain, Jade?"

Jade smiled at Tori and continued walking towards the hospital. After nearly an hour (that technically never took place) they were able to see the building. Jade had only accepted help from Tori a couple of times and that was only when she felt dizzy. "A little pain is a good thing." She said to Tori.

Tori shook her head. She would never understand Jade's attraction to pain. It must be all for show. How else was Jade going to keep up with her badass reputation? "We're almost there, can I start time again?" Tori gestured to the steps that lead to part of the hospital that housed the emergency room. Jade nodded and Tori clicked the watch back into place. The world creaked to a start again and a few people blasted past them with coffee in their hands.

"If only we had your watch battery and we could fix this." Jade sighed as she headed up the steps. Wait, what about her watch battery? Tori's converse clacked across on the cement as she headed up the gray steps to the plaza just outside the building. Tori jogged up next to her and slowed down to match Jade's pace as they passed by tables of patients with nurses and families enjoying an outdoor dinner not far from the hospital.

"Jade, what did you mean by finding my battery would fix everything?" Tori reached out for the handle on the door, but they slid open automatically, making Tori jump back slightly before continuing with Jade inside. Jade chewed her lip a little bit, and Tori could tell she was formulating some sort of lie simply by the hesitation.

"There's the nurse." Jade distracted, completely avoiding the question. Tori didn't move towards the nurse in protest to Jade's neglecting to answer her inquiry. Jade shrugged and pushed past Tori, heading over to the nurse, "I'm doing this because of you, Vega. I hate hospitals." She paused, turning back to Tori, "I'm trusting you." She warned. The nurse came up to her, and since there was pretty much nobody else in the ER, she was free to talk to Jade, but before she could even open her mouth, Jade talked over her, "My head is bleeding. Fix it" The nurse was stunned by her bluntness, but immediately took Jade into an examination area. Tori followed quickly behind, and since nobody stopped her, she guessed it must have been okay.

..::..::..::..::..::..

"This bandage itches." Jade noted reaching up towards the bandage on her head.

"No, Jade! Just leave it alone, you'll pull the stitches out!" Tori badgered and pushed the goth's arms off of her head. Jade drew her eyebrows in and shot a fiery glare at Tori. She quickly pulled her arms away from Jade and sat back down on one of the chairs facing her. "So what about the battery?" Tori questioned cautiously. Jade looked around shifty eyed and sat down in the waiting room next to Tori.

She leaned over to Tori's ear and whispered, "So, I kinda got this letter that told me that we needed to get the original battery from the watch to be able to use all the ... Features." Jade swallowed the lump in her throat. Truth be told, when she had gotten the letter addressed to her from herself, she had immediately suspected it was some practical joke, but in light of recent watch-related events, she decided to open it up. Upon reading it, she realized it had explained everything that had happened in the past and forte a few future events quite accurately. She could barely hear her own whispers over the sounds of the hospital, so when Tori didn't act surprised she figured that she just hadn't heard what she was saying.

"Is that all you explained in the letter?" Tori asked quietly, confounding Jade. How was it that Tori Vega was handling this so well? When Jade found out, she was keeping it to herself in case it was just a long dream that she had after putting off sleep for far too long. Now, she had seen herself from. A distance and was willing to believe this only now, why was it that Tori was so willing to accept this fact she had cooped with for so long? Then at once, a thought occurred to her.

"How did you know that I got the letter from myself?" Jade tried to grab Tori with eye-contact, but Tori was staring out across the plaza at somebody. Jade turned around quickly and saw one of the Feds walking towards them. The rest of the puzzle worked itself out in Jade's head.

"Jade, I'm sorry." Tori apologized rashly, but there was absolutely nothing she could do. There was no need for an explanation. Tori had allied herself with some unknown government officials and traded in her trust because her dad taught her to listen to law enforcement. She knew about the letter, she just needed to know what was in it. Why did Jade every trust her in the first place? "Jade, please. It's not what you think. They-"

Jade threw Tori off the seat in anger, as she did what she did best, improv. "Vega." Jade hissed. People turned to look at the two girls and Jade knew if she made a scene it would deter the suit from engaging them since he definitely didn't want this to become an incident. She looked up quickly to see that he had stopped and was staring at them trough the small crowd. This wasn't all for show though, some of it was legitimate anger towards the back stabber that was looking up at her. "Get up, Vega." Jade reached down and pulled Tori up by the collar of her jacket. The moment Tori was on her feet again, she opened her mouth to make some comment that would only serve as salt in the wound she had just cut on Jade, so Jade took a swing.

Her fist connected so perfectly with Tori's jaw the way Jade saw it. Tori fell back against the side of the building, her back slamming against the cold steel surface of the wall. The toes of Jade's converse were touching those of Tori's as she broke that comfort zone and gathered up part of Tori's jacket in one fist.

"I trusted you. I put my life in your back stabbing hands and you go and sell me out. You're just like everyone else." Jade seethed, her teeth barred at Tori.

"Jade, they told me it was-"

"For the better, huh? What lies did they puke out to get you to follow along while I was laying unconscious on my bedroom floor. Yeah, whatever they said or offered must have been worth it."

"They said if I got you to tell me about the letter, then they'd let us put things back to the way they were supposed to be." Tori whimpered.

"I trusted you, Tori." Tori felt the heat off of her instantly. Jade was wounded. It had taken life and death circumstances to bring out any sense of dependence from her and Tori had just thrown it all away like leftovers. It was all one big conspiracy, and Jade's "friend" was even in on it. She curled her fist in Tori's jacket.

The suit must have thought the scene was going too far because he was waving his plastic badge at the crowd, warding them off. He turned and pulled Jade off of Tori kicking and screaming at him. Jade was crushed into the wall next to Tori as her arms were yanked behind her back. She felt the cuffs click on them and it felt like just the same thing all over again. Tori was trying to tell Jade something, but she didn't give a damn what that liar had to say.

..::..::..::..::..::..

Author's Notes: I feel bad about giving you guys this hatchet-job of a chapter when all you've been is good to me. Sorry about that.


	8. Trust Games

Chapter Eight  
><span> Trust Games<span>

Silence. That was what the two had. The whole time Jade and Tori were being moved, there was silence. When they were dropped off at Jade's house and the agents were conversing with Tori, silence remained between the former friends. As they walked into Jade's house, there was silence. When they got up to Jade's room, Jade simply threw Tori's bag at her and collapsed on the bed. Tori put down the bag on the bed and stood in the door way. In silence, and not the comfortable kind either. After a few moments, Tori broke the silence.

"I'm not leaving. The agents said that we have to go back to normal. Under observation until they can get the watch off." Tori stared at Jade who was chewing on licorice flavored gum and rubbing that gun powder scented lotion on her wrists where the skin had been rubbed raw by the handcuffs, but the sting of the lotion on the raw skin felt refreshing to her. Jade just stared up at the ceiling and popped her gum, not bothering to look at Tori. Tori made her way over to Jade's bed with the royal purple sheets on it and put her hands on her hips like that gesture meant anything to Jade. Jade cast an unimpressed look at Tori and returned to chewing her gum.

After a few more awkward moments Jade spoke, "Leave. You can't do anything worse to me, Vega. Actually, there's so many things worse, but you don't even have the stomach to hear about them." Her gum popped again and she ran lines across her gun powder smelling wrists with her fingernails absent-mindedly. "I need some ice water." Jade sat up and turned away from Tori so she got up without looking at her. Jade walked into the bathroom and started running a bath with the knob turned all the way to the C at the end of the blue spectrum in the dial. Tori followed her int the bathroom and observed her curiously for a moment. Jade plugged the bath and turned back to Tori, crossing her arms.  
>"Vega." She commanded, but to no avail. Tori stood her ground. "Just get out of here and maybe I can pretend this never happened."<p>

"No, Jade. I already texted my parents to say I'm spending the night here." Tori argued calmly. She leaned against the doorway to the bathroom.

"I can still kick you out and let the streets of LA at night handle you once and for all." There was a clear threat in there, one that Jade would most definitely carry out, but Tori shook her head.

"Jade, they said if we act like nothing happened and go back to normal they'll figure the watch out and put us back to it having never happened, so let's just make-up."

Jade rolled her eyes with strongest amount of sarcasm humanly possible and shut the bath off. She now had a bath tub full of freezing cold water. She kicked off her shoes and sat down on the edge of the tub, glancing up at Tori "You can't stand up to me, Vega. You're so polite and perfect and good. I bet you're still a virgin." She accused with a single eyebrow arched to enhance the effect.

Tori was a bit taken aback by the accusation, but quickly recovered and shot right back at her, "I'm not like that! I just want to help!"

"Yourself. You want everyone to like you. Why don't you take Cat as your best friend and date Beck since we all know he's got the hots for you." Jade threw her arms up dramatically, "I don't care anymore." she swung around and put her feet in the cold water, biting her lip as she did so. She always did this since she was little. Some people cut, some burn, others scratch or bite. Jade was always a little different. She didn't have a need to hurt herself to feel alive. Hurting others did that job quite well, but this was more of an experiment. Other people hate pain, while sometimes Jade enjoys it, but not all kinds of pain. Just certain kinds like this one. The biting feeling against her feet chilled the veins which cooled the blood and sent cold blood pumping through her body. It was so strange, but what can you expect from Jade West?

"Beck doesn't have the hots for me. He's got the hots for you, Jade." Tori said to Jade's back with a sigh. He had played it up that he liked Tori, but it was easy to see through the charade that he liked both of the girls and couldn't make a decision. As much as Tori hated to admit it, Beck and Jade had much better chemistry on and off stage than she did with him. Jade heard Tori's words bounce off the brown tiles of her bathroom, but paid them no attention. Tori reached down and unlaced her converse and stepped out of them. She sat down next to Jade in the edge of the tub and looked at the pale girl who was refusing to make eye contact with her. Tori sat cross-legged at first, afraid to put her feet in.

"I'm not trying to steal anybody from you. I was new and I wanted a place to fit in at this crazy school and you and Cat accepted me." She sighed again and reached down to the cuffs of her jeans. She rolled them up tightly so they wouldn't accidentally unroll into the water and then prepared herself to put her feet in, psyching herself up to the task.

"It only hurts for a minute, then it stings, then it goes numb and you get the rush." Jade shut her eyes and put her head back like she was on some sort of water induced high. Tori looked at the dark haired girl and took a deep breath before dipping her feet in. It wasn't as cold as she had expected, but it still felt like ice encased her foot. She made whines and shifted uncomfortably. Jade smiled when she heard Tori's discomfort. After a few seconds, Tori eased into it and was feeling the dull burn of cold. Then ever so gradually, a feeling of cool settled about her whole body, chilling different areas in patches. It was such a unique feeling.

"I'm not good with relationships, you know." Jade informed Tori. She paused, "Do I have a chance with Beck?"

Tori was starting to feel unsettled by the cold rush chilling her blood and pulled her feet out, letting them hit the warmth of the air. Jade chuckled and mimicked her. Pins and needles filled their feet as they were warned up first by the air and then by soft towels wrapped around them.

"I think you have a chance with Beck." Tori still couldn't catch Jade's gaze. "Are you still going to hate me and kick me out?"

"Hate you? Hell yes. Kick you out? Maybe not. I can think of some uses for you." She stood up and pulled the towel off of her feet and walked back into the bedroom.

"Other uses? Are you going to like string me up and torture me?" Tori cautiously followed Jade into the bedroom. As soon as Jade was turned, Tori dropped to her hands and knees and checked under the bed for any knives or dark magic books.

"No, we'll save torture for later on tonight." Jade may or may not have been teasing, but judging by the spite in her voice, she was running scenarios in her head. Jade sat down at her desk and pulled out some paper and pencil, tapping the pencil against paper as she thought. "Okay, Vega. Seeing as you can't be trusted, you'll have to come with me."

"Come with you where?" Tori approached Jade and the desk carefully.

"I'm breaking into your house."

"Wait, repeat that."

"I'm not a CD player, Now here's the plan." Jade stood up and walked over to Tori's bag. She pulled the drawstrings so it loosened up and starting rummaging until she found Tori's PearPhone. Tori was about to protest Jade's actions, but just watched her out of fear. Jade flicked past the photos on Tori's phone until she got to one of the patio door. She put two fingers on the screen and dragged them apart to enlarge to photo. Trina was stuck in a potted plant in the photo, that definitely wasn't what she was worried about. She blew it up to the fullest extent on the lock.

"You can't be serious, there's a dead bolt on all of our doors and my dad would shoot you. He's a cop, you know." Tori hastily informed her, as if that would influence her decision at all. Jade snickered at her comment and started sketching the lock with scary accuracy, filling in details from experience. She was jotting down notes as she did so.

"I've broken into prisons, before. This is no problem. Now, torture might take a little effort."

"I'll pass."

"On the break in or the torture?"

"Both." Tori pulled her phone away from Jade and put it back into her bag. "We can just use my key you know."

"And when Trina finds us looking for something in your trash, what is she going to say? 'Are you doing drugs, sis'?"

Tori groaned, "Okay, fine. You win, Jade. What's the plan?"

"I break into the patio and we get in, check your trash for the old battery you threw out, and get back in time to finish up a project for Sikowitz' class."

Tori nodded reluctantly, watching Jade examine the picture of the lock she had drawn.

"So, do you still want to pass on the torture? Pain's a good thing, you know." Jade leaned back in the office chair with a smirk rivaled only by the devil himself.

"I'll take a rain check." Tori chuckled to herself. At least they were back to their usual banter. If Jade wasn't so pissed off, you could call it friendly exchange, but it most certainly was not a friendly exchange. They were more like coworkers than friends, forced to work cohesively whether they liked it or not. And they were both about to work cohesively to commit a crime.

..::..::..::..::..::..

Author's Notes: Believe me, stuff gets interesting from here. Honestly, there isn't much left of this story, five or six chapters mostly. I'm going to try and update every Monday and Friday, maybe get this thing finished up. You guys will... Actually, I'm worried about how you will react to the ending. Just wait and see. Oh! And review. That too.

Also, for those of you with a tumblr, I decided to make one for just this account. It has some of my artwork, possibly some drabbles, and will keep you updated on this story along with any other ones I might be working on. It's just ncis-ninja on tumblr. Shameless self-promoting here.


	9. Mission: Jade Possible

Chapter Nine  
><span>Mission: Jade Possible<span>

"We shouldn't be here. They're watching you know." Tori paced back and forth quietly on the patio. She had developed a sense of paranoia about the whole situation and was constantly looking around the way and ducking down whenever a car went past. Jade continued working away at the lock with the bobby pin and screwdriver.

"And who's fault is that?" Jade whispered back to Tori. Her anger hadn't stopped for their mission at all. In fact, the walk here had been help for Tori. Every time she opened her mouth to start a conversation, Jade took it in a cruel manner and ripped Tori apart any way she could find. Tori felt like dirt by the time she had gotten here, and with the panic of being watched having set in, she was an emotional wreck. Jade had absolutely no problem with taking advantage of her in this state either.

"Vega, wanna hear a kind of saying of mine?"

Tori stopped pacing and looked over at Jade, her lips pursed in confusion, "Sure."

"If you think somebody's out to get you, they probably are."

Tori felt even worse now and she sat down on the porch huddled up next to Jade in her jacket that barely provided a barrier from her and the cool night air. "You remember a couple days ago, when that guy died and I was in your room."

Jade turned the bobby pin some more and pressed on the lock with the screwdriver, getting a little more of a turn and adjusting the bobby pin appropriately. She glanced over at Tori who looked about as frazzled as the girl felt. "Yeah, I remember you crying like a baby." Jade grunted as she forced the lock until it clicked.

"I wasn't crying that bad ... Great, there's marks on the lock." Tori whined, getting up to try and fix the marks that showed obvious tampering. "How can I explain this to my dad?" Tori walked into her house and her boots that she had put on before they left clicked against the wooden floors and Jade shushed her.

"Why did you put on boots, you idiot?" Jade hissed, "Who are you Lady Gaga, wearing boots to a break in?" Tori mouthed the word sorry to Jade, but the darker haired girl waved her out the door, "Go out there and marry the night or something while I look for the battery."

Tori put her head down and sulked outside. She sat down against the side of her own house. Silly to think she's now an accessory to breaking and entering her own house. Jade was being so quiet she doubted the girl was looking at all. Tori started to sing softly to herself, "I'm so sick it, your attention deficit." The song reminded her of old times back when her and Jade were on friendly speaking terms and they went out to Karaoke Dokie. She smiled at her boots, at least she looked good. She hummed along to the song for a little bit longer. Guilt was biting at her heart, and it was starting to hurt a lot. She thought that getting rid of the watch by giving it over to the Feds would have fixed things, but it didn't. They couldn't even get the watch off. It was a terrible idea to try and get the information out of Jade. She assumed her acting skills would have helped her, or Jade might have been grateful. Now she was unsure where her allegiance fell. The suits or Jade. "I scream your name, it always stays the ." She sang gently.

"Whose name are you screaming?" Tori looked up and jumped at the sight of Jade standing in the door way with a watch battery in her hands. She feel back and Jade bit her tongue to keep herself from laughing.

"Jade, you scared the fudge out of me." Tori stood up and held out her hands. Jade dropped the watch battery into her palms and Tori pulled the watch open from the face.

"It opens from the face instead of the front? That is one jank watch. Just like you." Jade commented, putting Tori down again. There was no time for her to breathe between the insults now. "Oh wait, were you just born that way?"

"I'm not Lady Gaga!" Tori exclaimed fairly loudly. There was sound from inside the house and Jade's hand slapped over Tori's mouth. In one swift movement, Jade slid the door shut and pushed Tori so they were sitting against the wall next to the door, hopefully out of view. Jade's face was close to Tori's and her hand held tightly in place over Tori's lips. Her eyes however, we're fixated on the door as opposed to Tori. As if Tori would move in this situation, Jade put her arms across Tori, touching the wall lightly and restricting any movement.

"Dad? Mom?" Came the unmistakable voice of one Trina Vega. The lights clicked on and Tori shut her eyes, trying desperately to think of an excuse as to why she was at her house with Jade at this time of night sneaking in. "Tori?" Trina was approaching the door and Tori was breathing in the gun powder scented lotion on Jade's wrists. She could hear Jade's pulse in her wrist speeding up, but her face remained unchanged. She was an amazing actress for sure. Trina headed into the kitchen area to look instead much to the girl's relief. Jade turned her head so she was facing and unspoken words drifted between them. Mostly words of "Holy shit, what are we going to say if she finds us?" but Jade didn't say a word and Tori couldn't.

Trina started coming towards the door again and Jade whispered to Tori as quietly as possible, "Give me your phone."

Tori rose her eyebrows and pulled them together. Her mouth opened half way but was unable to respond to Jade.

"Nice poker face, Gaga, now give me the phone." Tori pulled her phone out and handed it to Jade, who unlocked it, put in Tori's passcode, and turned on the cable provider app. Without caring which channel, Jade used the phone to turn the TV on in Tori's house. The TV flickered to life and some static buzzed in the background. Jade let out a sigh of relief when Trina stopped going towards the door and headed over to the TV. Tori sighed and started to stand up, but Jade yanked her back down to the floor.

"Jade! Let's go. I'm on the edge of insanity here." Tori started to get up and leave again, but Jade grabbed her leg. He put a finger to her lips and tapped the phone. A few short moments later, the TV was changed to a horror movie, at a particularly scary part luckily. There was a scream and then a clatter of footsteps hurriedly dashing across the floor and up the stairs. Jade tapped the screen again and the TV fell silent.

Jade looked up and gave Tori a fakely sweet smile and said, "Didn't you mean the edge of glory?"

Tori rolled her eyes and kicked Jade's arm off of her leg. She walked out to the wall and put her hands on it, unsure of how to get back over the short obstacle. Jade found Tori's lacking experience in doing things not so by the book quite amusing. She stood up and met Tori at the wall, handing the brunette her phone back. Jade pressed her hands against the top of the wall and pushed herself up. She swung her feet over cleanly and landed on the other side.

"It's like three feet tall, Vega." Jade mocked. She turned her back and marched off to the road quickly. She stood at the edge of the sidewalk for a moment to check the road and saw something in the corner of her eye. Her head snapped to where the suspicious movement was, and she could have sworn she saw somebody run behind the hedges. Maybe they really were under watch. If that was the case, it'd be best not to confront them. At least, not until she knows she has something to barter with. Even if that means cutting off Tori's wrist to get the watch off, she'd need the leverage.

"Jade!" Tori was suddenly beside Jade, and she pulled herself out of the stare. Tori looked at Jade expectantly, "How did you know my pass code?"

"You may dress like Lady Gaga, but you don't have a poker face like her." Jade snickered and headed down the street, trailing tightly by a scared Tori who was scared to death of being outside in the night alone. They bantered on like they used to back before this whole incident, and it almost seemed as if Jade had gotten over the things Tori had done. Almost.

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Author's Notes: Can anyone say filler? I bet you can. Unless you've got duct tape over your mouth. Then I would want to know why you're reading fanfiction online with duct tape on your mouth, but hey, I don't judge. Anyways, despite the shortness and boringness of this chapter, things will really be picking up on Monday with another installment. By the way, I had to consult a friend on the Lady Gaga songs because I know like two. I'm not really well-versed in artists like her. Regardless, thanks for reading and thanks to all of you who review and alert and favorite and whatever else you do.


	10. I've Got My Spies On You

Chapter Ten  
><span> I've Got My Spies on You<span>

A siren rang out from the darkness and Tori awoke with a start. She saw the alarm clock ringing out an obnoxious beep. Tori slammed her hand down over the snooze button and looked at the time. Six o'clock. She groaned and reached for her watch, freezing time. She could sleep as late as she wanted to and never be late, so she went back to sleep to wake up five hours later at six o'clock in the morning.

..::..::..::..::..::..

"Not that I care, but what the hell are you doing, Vega?"

"Looking for hidden cameras!" Tori exclaimed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She threw another book onto the floor adding to the mess of papers, books, and folders cluttered about. She ran her hand up against the seam of the metal, pushing her Katy Perry magnets this way and that to see under them.

"You're a lunatic." Jade insulted, rolling her eyes dramatically and walking past Tori, "Don't be late for the skit or I'll g-" Tori grabbed Jade's elbow and yanked her back to the locker.

"There better have been a good reason for that or you won't make it to class for the skit." Jade threatened. Tori retracted her hand quickly and sighed. Jade was so problematic. Not only was she vicious and could probably carry out most of the threats she pulls, but she was slow to put trust in someone else and quick to pull that trust away.

"Jade, I screwed up, okay? And I know that what friendship we had wasn't much, but can you at least act like you give a damn about my feelings?" Tori squatted down and gathered some books up in her arms. She stood up and started filling the locker with stuff again. Organizing them by subject mostly. Jade ran her finger over Tori's 'I Kissed A Girl' magnet and instantly felt disgusted by the pop-music reference.

Jade chuckled in response to Tori's words, "You see, the funny thing is, I don't give a damn about your feelings." Jade watched Tori recoiled as if she had just kicked her the stomach. Like she was some poor innocent fluffy puppy. But, she wasn't innocent. She knowingly betrayed Jade. So seeing Tori squirm from every blow Jade dealt to her self esteem was an enjoyable thing for Jade to watch. That sadistic little smile made an appearance across Jade's face and she turned around, her boots clicking against the floor as she headed to her destination.

And then something totally unexpected happened. Jade felt some strange feeling gnawing at the pit of her stomach, eating away at the lining that held her feelings intact. She felt ... possibly ... guilt. It was uncorking those untapped reserves of care that she rarely ever used. Jade stopped, one final click echoing out in the hallway that was quickly becoming abandoned before the bell rang. She put her head down and popped the gum. Her hair fell down in dark brownish-black waves. She ran her finger and thumb down the texture of the strap of her bag. She shook her head and let out a sigh. She dug her heel in and kicked herself a full one-eighty, coming back around the locker and leaned against the lockers.

"Though up a new insult, Jade?" Tori mumbled into her locker. She held the edge tightly before throwing it shut with a clang. Tori narrowed her eyes and Jade and pulled her bag over her shoulder.

"Tori, if you tell anyone I said this I'll-"

"Take a knife, Kidnap me, string me up, gut me while I'm still breathing?"

Jade looked up, catching the seriousness of Tori's words brimming in her eyes. Jade smiled shyly, "You're learning. But yes, all of those things if you tell anyone." jade took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be treating you this way and I think that even I've realized this."

Tori stared up at Jade, hoping for a prank camera to pop out or for Jade to yell 'gotcha!' but Jade looked sincere, serious, obviously being morgue most vulnerable she had ever been in her entire life probably.

"Friends?" Jade asked softly. She treated the word like it was a volatile idea to ever be friends with Tori again after her betrayal, but then coming to the conclusion that she had treated Tori far worse than necessary, she though Tori had ever right to turn the offer down. Tori looked at Jade's hand for a painstakingly long few moments. Then she smacked Jade's hand away and pulled her into hug. At first Jade was frozen like an awkward penguin, but soon accepted it and melted into the hug. After a few sickening moments, Jade couldn't handle it and pulled away.

"Now let's get to class." Jade turned and headed down the hallway. Tori followed after Jade, but was stopped by a sudden hand over her mouth. In a matter of seconds she was in the janitor's closets with one of the fake federal agents. He shushed her and locked the door.

"Don't kill me." Tori cringed in fear but just stood rigidly and remained emotionless.

"You have the battery?" He asked monotonously. Tori stepped back and flattened herself agains the wall to stay as far away from him as possible. She nodded nervously, watching his every sway and twitch.

"Bring it tomorrow to the warehouse after school." He paused, thinking over the command. She didn't want to go to the warehouse again. There was no telling what would happen. She could pack her bags and run away or better yet, call the police. He cleared his. Life to speak again, "And if you don't, we will kill the other girl."

Tori's heart stopped. There was no way they could that right? She wanted to say something but he was already gone. Tori stared at the door and finally caught her breath. She was just going to the warehouse without telling Jade. She knew Jade would want to come with her, so by not telling her she could get there, save Jade's life, and put this whole manner to rest. At once the bell rang and Tori stopped time and started walking towards her destination cautiously. If time wasn't moving, she wasn't late, right? She better use the watch while she still had it.

..::..::..::..::..::..

Author's Notes: It's so short. Gah.

I'm definitely swamped, so I'll probably be updating only one Fridays now. Between rehearsals, papers, and the crap I get from other people, I'm really overloaded. Sorry bout that.


	11. Move Along

Chapter 11

Move Along

* * *

><p>She knew it. Jade just knew it. Tori couldn't be trusted. Why in the world did she trust the brat in the first place? Jade slammed her fingers against the radio buttons, and an overplayed commercialized song played on one of the popular pop stations. Jade groaned and shut the radio off, preferring to stalk Tori Vega in silence. Okay, stalk was a harsh term. Investigate is more like it. She came into school looking all upset and disgruntled the. After their performance, which Sikowitz loved by the way, she ditched school.<p>

This was reason enough for Jade to be pissed at her. She spun the wheel and screeched behind the truck that would conceal herself in case Tori was on to her, which she doubted because of how stupid she thought Tori to be.

Eventually, Tori pulled into a parking lot next to the familiar warehouse and Jade's heart rate spiked. She ran around the block once before parking next to Tori's car that was now vacant.

Jade hopped out and her shoes crunched on the gravel. She briskly made her way to the rusty door to the warehouse she and Tori had been to before. She realizes that following Tori was a complete destruction of the trust they had tried to rebuild. But she had come to the conclusion that she didn't care. She only cared that Tori was walking into a possibly life-threatening situation alone. Jade cut off her thoughts there. She didn't care about Tori anymore. Tori was just a friend that had stabbed her in the back, and she needed to know if she was about to do it again.

Jade pressed her ear to the rusty door and could only hear muffled sounds. The cars were zooming past behind her and the bustling of the city made it nearly impossible to make out any clear sounds. Jade stepped back and surveyed the warehouse. She smiled when an idea began germinating. She made her way to the truck parked next to the warehouse. She checked to make sure nobody was in it and the went to the back of it. She stepped on the hitch and put her other foot on the handle on the door. She gripped the side of the truck and pushed herself up to the awkward position and grabbed the top of the truck. She managed to use the wall the truck was carelessly parked so close to to get herself on top of the truck. Taking a deep breath, her devious plan came to a finish. She walked across the top of the truck until she could step of on to the lower roof that covered tan extra addition to the warehouse. She climbed across the shingles to the wall of the decrepit building and peered in the window.

There was Tori, sitting in a chair talking to two of the fake federal agents. She looked upset and uncomfortable while the men looked very content watching her squirm. Jade's fingers curled into a fist and she ground her teeth together watching the scene. She couldn't hear anything though, so she pressed lightly against the window and it cracked open, the lock having been rusted to the point of decay and eventual uselessness. She dipped down and listened in to the conversation going on.

"Look, I found the battery, okay? That should be enough." Tori's voice cracked. She was tense, upset, nervous, out of her comfort zone. Jade watched to men shake their heads.

"We need to know where you found it. How you found it." They questioned.

"I did it on my own, I went to my house and got it." Jade bit her lip in thought. Tori's lie was fairly convincing, and she was usually not that great of a liar. Jade realized that Tori was covering for her. Trying to keep her out of the situation. Why would she try to protect her when she had been nothing but mean to Tori.

"We need that watch." Was the next thing she managed to hear. Tori was shaking her head, probably explaining that she couldn't get it off. She was right of course, the watch was full on omnitrix, refusing to be taken off the brunette's wrist.

In an instant, things got nasty. Jade watched one of the men yell something that was covered up by the sound of a bad muffler somewhere nearby. Tori was shaking her head and saying the same thing over and over to them. The other one pulled out a rotating saw. A sickening thought dropped to Jade's stomach as her entire body froze. Her blood felt cold and slow as she figured out just what they were going to do to get that watch. She wanted to move forward, but every part of her body was locked up. But when one of the men grabbed Tori's wrist, the lock was broken and Jade dove head first into the window.

That was not a smart idea. She was pretty far off the ground, but luckily she managed to catch the fall and roll. A thunder shock of pain rocketed up her feet and slammed through her legs, but she ignored it and stood up. Everyone was looking at her in shock.

"What are you looking at, baldy?" She snapped to the nearest man. All at once he dove towards her and Jade side stepped in a panic. She had been in fights before but never with two grown men and she had no idea how to fight any ways. The man cracked his head against the wall and groaned, staggering. Jade looked away in time to see the other guy barreling towards her. Without a moment to think, Jade was rammed by him. She felt her back hit the ground and a not so great crackling sounded from the bones. She looked up and saw the man above her one second and then he fell flat on his face next to her. Jade rolled over and pushed herself up, disregarding the spike of pain in her back. She stood up and saw the man fumbling with his shoe laces that had been tied together. And next to him was a very scared looking Tori. Jade couldn't help but smile. Who knew Tori had it in her. Their eyes met and a silent moment passed between them before Tori's eyes grew wide. Jade spun around in time to get hit in the head by the other man. His fist smacked against the bandage and her whole body erupted into varying degrees pain. Jade fell to her knees and put her hands out to break the fall. The man didn't hit her again. He actually was suddenly wrapped in his jacket and Tori was standing there, hand on the watch.

"Jade!" Came Tori's distorted voice. Jade felt a slim line of blood roll down her cheek from the wound on her head. She let it roll until it became caught between her lips. She shakily stood up and came face to face with Tori.

"Are you okay?" Tori asked, her eyes heavy with distress.

"Are you blonde?" Jade responded in her usual smart ass style. Jade turned to see the shoelace idiot making his way to his feet. She darted last him and grabbed the old fire extinguisher in the wall. Not a great weapon but it would work. She swung it at him and he grunted when it came in contact with his chest. He instantly fell back on to the floor.

"Vega!" Jade called. The man had gotten his jacket off and was coming towards her. Jade reached for the watch and in the blink of an eye she was gone and replaced by the chair she had been sitting in earlier. He knocked into the chair and did a full flip, crushing the wooden furniture. Tori cheered from next to Jade making the pale girl jump. The whole time stopping thing was confusing.

Jade took Tori's hand and started towards the door, but another fake agent came out the door, and another behind him, and another, and another. There were so many. The worst part was, there was a click behind them, then all of a sudden a bang and a gunshot.

"Always happens to me," Jade gasped through her teeth.

* * *

><p><p>

Author's Notes: So very sorry about the extreme lateness. It's choppy, I know, but hey there's only one chapter left, so make it last, huh? I'll try to get the final chapter up sometime this week.


	12. It Ends Tonight

Chapter 12

It Ends Tonight

..::..::..::..::..::..

Tori grabbed Jade around the shoulder and pulled to stopper on the watch. The men froze and Jade gasped again, barely staying upright. She was holding on tightly to her shoulder and Tori noticed the blood seeping through the green jacket. Jade looked down at the spot, and choked back a cry. She was intrigued and disgusted. This was definitely a sensation she had never experience. It's not like she hadn't thought about it. She did. All the time. She wondered what it would be like to bleed so much you can't see straight, and even for her, it isn't pleasant.

"Fuck." Jade hissed, pulling her hand away and staring at the blood slathered across her palm, "It's not like the movies. It hurts like hell too."

"Jade, I-"

"Shut it, Vega. This is your fault anyways." Jade stomped her foot against the ground and slumped more into Tori since she lacked the strength to hold herself up. "What can the watch do with the battery?" She growled through her teeth.

"Turn back time. W-with the original battery it can move us through time. Like a, like a key. Jade, you're hurt." Tori's eyes were wide as she saw the blood seeping through the wound on her head.

"Yeah. I got that." Jade took a step forward and stumbled. Her body was weak from the wounds. Tori immediately grabbed her and held her up. Jade cast her a glance, "Let's do this." She sputtered. Jade took Tori's wrist and turned the crown of the watch.

Time wound backwards. They watched themselves moving away from where they were standing. They observed the entire fight from start to finish. Jade flew back up into the window and it shut soon after. Tori left not long after and the men after that, leaving the two girls winding time back. Jade was becoming upset at his slow things were passing and cranked it, slamming them through night and into yesterday morning. Jade's fingers slipped and caught in the little stopper, pressing it back in. She looked up and found herself staring at ... herself. She realized exactly what was going in, and how this had to happen. She looked at herself and smirked.

"Jade, push the thing!" Tori shouted next to her. Jade pressed the button in, and fell out of Tori's hold. She bumbled backwards and slammed against the wall. She coughed and gasped, slipping down to the floor with her bloodied head and shoulder throbbing in pain. She instinctively grabbed her shoulder and grimaced at the pressure on the wound.

"Jade!" Tori cried out, falling to her knees next to Jade. Jade shut her eyes and felt the sensation of blood seeping out of the wound in to the palm of her hand. It was a chilling experience, she had done strange things to feel strange sensations before, but there had never been a single instance like this before. She was intrigued for some sick reason.

"Come on, Jade. We have to go back."

"And do what? Kill the copy of ourselves we run into in the past?" Jade coughed and groaned her eyes clenched shut tightly, "You saw the copy of us and you know as well as I do only one of us can go back. It's how time works."

Tori shook her head. She was panicking. The blood was sliding between Jade's fingers and trickling down the back of her hand. Tori flashed back to kneeling over the dead body of that man that had been hit by a car, and she couldn't help but think that maybe she was the reason for Jade's death. She was tearing up.

"No. I won't leave you here. You can't know that only one of us can go back. Why would that-" Tori was cut off by two of Jade's fingers pressed against her lips. Jade's fingers trailed across Jade's cheek, and cupped the side of Tori's face.

"You're talented, Tori. You've got a good head there. I never told you that." She smiled, starting to slip away. Tori shook her head. This can't be happening. She whispered 'no' over and over again under her breath. Jade shut her eyes, "Don't tell me anything when you get back. I wouldn't believe you anyways."

"No." Tori said again, trying her hardest not to cry even though the tears were stinging the corners of her eyes. "Jade, no."

"Besides." Jade chuckled, which scared Tori out of her wits. She had never seen a dying person on TV like this. It wasn't really like the movies at all. "I've always wanted to know what it's like to die."

"No!" Tori shouted, grabbing Jade's face. She put her ear against Jade's heart and listened. There was no sound. Tori turned her head against Jade's chest to watch the pale girl's hand lose grip on her shoulder and lay limply against her jacket. Tori let out a sob as she touched the bloody patch of fabric. It was terrifying to see her friend dead.

But for once, she had a reason to deny what was going on. She stood up, her fingers slick with blood. Jade's hand fell from Tori's face, lifeless. Tori shut her eyes and bit back another gasp and cry. "I'll never forget this." Tori whispered to Jade.

She clenched her eyes tight as she possibly could and spun the knob back. Tori opened her eyes and found herself standing in the quiet darkness of the janitor's closet. Jade was right. Only one of them can go back. Tori closed her eyes once more and spun the watch back.

She was standing next to Jade in the hallway. Jade was reaching for the watch to see if she could fix it, but Tori immediately snatched her wrist away.

"What the heck, Vega?" Jade snapped, clawing the stiff coffee cup and leaving small marks in the side.

"I like it broken." Tori said truthfully. Not being able to hold back her feelings, she lunged forward and hugged Jade. She never wanted to lose a friend again, no matter who they were or how it happened. Jade remained stiff and mumbled something into Tori's shoulder, refusing to hug back.

"Group hug!" Cat exclaimed, joining in and hugging with them. The two girls nearly squeezed everything out of Jade before letting go and smiling.

"What was that for?" Jade growled, stepping back away from the girl.

"Sorry. Impulse control, or lack of." Tori lied, running a hand through her hair. Jade raised a pointed eyebrow at Tori and shrugged, pushing through Tori as she headed towards class. They always had an interesting friendship. And it didn't end there.

..::..::..::..::..::..

_15 years later_

Tori hummed a few more notes before falling silent. Her chin rested on her hands on the rail of the crib. Her first child lay in the crib, soundly sleeping and dreaming sweet dreams. She watched him a moment longer before straightening up and shutting the already low light off. She gently shut the door, but left it open a crack so she could see in.

"He's finally asleep." Tori said with a sigh of relief. She sat down on the couch and sank into the couch cushions.

"Took long enough." Jade scoffed.

"It's not like I'm an expert at this." Tori snapped.

"Girls!" Said Tori's husband, a tall kind of plain looking man with sandy blonde hair trimmed neatly and warm hazel eyes.

"Sorry, babe." Tori responded.

"I'd say sorry to you, Mark. But Tori said I should stop lying." Jade smiled acutely. She glanced away from her book and shared that smile with Tori who rolled her eyes and chuckled. Mark shook his head. He was still puzzled by the two girls, but had grown to accept it. Jade had been evicted from her old apartment for reasons she had never told, but she offered to pay part of the rent if Mark and Tori let her live in the new condo. It was perfect because they were unsure if they could afford the unit, but it was so perfect for them.

"Your husband is weird." Jade commented, lounging further back in the couch.

"And your boyfriend is ... Oh wait." Tori snickered.

"He burned out. Couldn't handle me." Jade snarling replied.

"You're 31 now, Jade. You should like, grow up." At Tori's sentence, Jade fell silent, probably absorbed more into the book than she had been in the conversation. Mark was busy unpacking a box they had just had shipped from their old apartment.

"Tori, hun." Mark called as he worked through the box he was unpacking, "What's this?" He held up a shimmering gold watch and Tori flinched at the sight. Mark raised his eyebrows inquisitively and Tori shook it off.

"Just an old watch, Mark. Kind of a keepsake. Doesn't work." She hoped he would put it away and leave it at that. She glanced over at Jade who was already looking at her. There was something odd though. Jade was smiling. She lingered in eye contact a bit longer before going back her morbid tale. Tori furrowed her brow and turned back to see Mark shoving the watch away.

And that was that.

**THE END**

..::..::..::..::..::..

First of all, yes, I know. That story was crazy. Nuts even. Where the idea came from, I dunno, but I really don't like where it went. The ending I had originally planned, involved Jade going to jail, believe it or not. It was a little bit more realistic than this ending, and the plot holes this ending left would have been filled by the other one, but I felt like you guys deserved a happier ending than Tori's depression, and Jade being in jail _again._So I just went with this one. If I had the chance to go back and rewrite this story and fix all the errors, explaining that the fake feds were a ring of criminals taking valuble objects and selling them, I would. But time does not permit it. I would also like to apologize for naming every chapter after a song. Maybe one day I'll completely revamp it. Again, thanks to all those who stuck with me. Those of you who messaged and review and followed, it was a blast. Don't forget to be awesome, guys.


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